The Catching of Her
by Trekkie101
Summary: There was something about her eyes, and the way the sweater seemed to hug her tightly—it made her never want to look away. Will one early-morning encounter at a coffee shop mean new beginnings for Olivia Benson, or will she let the chance drive away? Benson/Isles. Crossover w/ R&I. [xlisted in Crossovers w/ R&I]


**Catching Her**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles, including the book and the TNT show; Maura Isles belongs to Tess Gerritsen and Sasha Alexander. I do not own Law and Order: SVU; Olivia Benson belongs to Dick Wolf and Mariska Hargitay. The plot for this story is my own, but that is all I could or would stake claim to. Leave feedback if you would like to; these girls are wonderful, and my muse would be grateful for your affirmation!**

**Synopsis: There was something about her eyes, and the way the sweater seemed to hug her tightly—it made her never want to look away. Will one early-morning encounter at a coffee shop mean new beginnings for Olivia Benson, or will she let the chance drive away? Crossover w/ R&I. No Rizzles.**

The line at the café was no longer or shorter than it was any other day, so Olivia and Elliot put in their six coffee orders and found a tall table to sit at while they waited for Amanda's chai to get its turn in the blender. Small talk centered mostly around the upcoming birthday party of three year old Eli Stabler which was being hosted at a local science center and themed around Bob the Builder. As they spoke, both detectives let their eyes roam around the small shop, unable to turn off their observational skills while a badge and holster hung heavily from their belts.

Leaning against the cream-and-sugar bar at the center of the shop, a smartly-dressed blonde with incredibly high heels caught Olivia's attention. Unable to pass the woman over and continue looking around, the brunette almost didn't even notice as she began to stare, running her gaze down the line of a shoulder blade under a deep purple sweater to the impressive curve of charcoal grey pencil skirt, and then beyond down the backs of smooth, strong calves. As she watched, the blonde shifted her stance and the muscles of her legs shifted with her. One of the baristas called her drink order out over the low din of the other patrons, and Olivia caught the tail end of a bright, wide smile as she gracefully retrieved the drink.

"Thank you," a light voice called to the workers behind the counter who nodded their thanks in return, and then the mysterious blonde turned to face the bar she had been leaning against.

"Something catch your eye?" Elliot's voice shocked Olivia out of her blatant staring and she shook herself, blushing.

"I'm sorry, I forgot where we were. Are the coffees ready?" Olivia went to slide off the tall chair, but Elliot's hand on her arm stopped her.

"No, not even close. Relax. I just wanted to know what was so interesting about the beautiful girl pouring way too much skim milk into her coffee." Olivia's gaze snapped back to where she had last seen the blonde, just in time for the woman to take an experimental sip of the hot drink. Two light colored eyes closed in appreciation of whatever flavor she found, and then the cup left her lips and was placed on the bar once more.

"Nothing." Olivia's voice sounded too soft, even to her, and she cleared her throat once. "Nothing. I just started day dreaming and happened to focus in that direction." Elliot made a low, disbelieving sound in the back of his throat and pulled at his cuffs. Olivia ignored him. For another moment or two, they both watched the woman replace the lid of the drink and slide an expensive purse farther up on her shoulder in preparation for leaving the café. At the same time, a barista called Olivia's name and lofted a pair of drink carriers in their direction. Both detectives stood simultaneously.

"You know, I can get the coffees… Why don't you go see if you can get her name?" The brunette beside him looked at Elliot sharply, so he raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm not saying anything, except that this is New York, Liv. What're the chances of running into her again?" Olivia shrugged, but the pair had already reached the counter. Taking her coffee and Elliot's from one carrier and combining the other four into a single set, Olivia mulled over his words. He was right, but what was she going to do? Run after the poor woman, and say… what? "Take a chance. See what happens." Olivia looked up into clear blue eyes that knew her better than she knew herself, then nodded quickly.

"Okay, hold this." Shoving his coffee into his free hand, Olivia spun towards the door and strode towards it as quickly as possible. Out on the street, a cool breeze flipped her hair into her eyes and she brushed it away in annoyance. To the right, a half a block away, she spotted the purple sweater and the blonde curls, a hand raised in pursuit of a taxi, so Olivia started walking in that direction. Almost two storefronts away from the beautiful woman, a taxi screeched to a halt and she opened. Olivia opened her mouth to yell, "wait!," but realized that she had no idea what to say if the woman actually stopped. Instead, the tall detective froze on the sidewalk, watching as the lithe body stooped to lay her large purse down on the seat and ask the driver a question. Getting an affirmative answer of some kind from the young man in the front seat, the blonde straightened once more and happened to look up towards where Olivia was standing.

For a brief second, their gazes met, Olivia sure that he mouth was hanging open just the slightest bit while she stared, unsure, at the stranger who had captured her attention. The blonde's face was open, a large, genuine smiled curled onto her lips, and her gaze was bright with intelligence. Olivia couldn't move.

But the second was only a second as the driver said something to the blonde woman and she rapidly turned to fold herself gracefully into the car. Before Olivia could take another step forward, the car sped away.

"Did you catch her?" For the second time that day, Elliot's voice reminded her of where she was, and she turned around to find him waiting near the entrance of the café. Shaking her head, she took his drink from him so he could safely carry the others', and headed towards their waiting cruiser. He didn't speak again until they were back on the road, heading the sixteen blocks uptown to the 1-6. She was staring out the window, barely aware of the cold from Amanda's coffee seeping through her sleeve and onto her wrist, or the heat of her own as she sipped it slowly. "You know, maybe you should go back to the café tomorrow morning." Olivia's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What? Why?" Elliot shrugged, trying, and mostly failing, to seem nonchalant.

"You know, it seemed like she thought the coffee was good. She might go there again." Olivia let her head fall back against the seat of the car, turning her face to look at Elliot's profile.

"You know what? Don't even start." Elliot sighed, but she continued. "I know that was a bit… out of character for me." Her partner scoffed, but she ignored him. "But it's over. Done. Don't start yenta-ing."

As they pulled into the precinct parking garage, Olivia thought that Elliot might have acquiesced to her request and dropped the subject, but she should have known that she would never be as lucky. As soon as they were in the elevator, he commented again.

"I'm just saying, she might be a tourist, and she might go back to the same coffee shop because she doesn't know about any others. It's a chance to see if you can get her name this time."

"Elliot, drop it!" For some reason, Olivia did not want to keep talking about the woman from the coffee shop, and she knew she definitely didn't want to keep talking about her as the elevator doors opened into the bullpen.

"You even have the day off," Elliot continued, knowing he was in danger of a swift punch to the gut if he wasn't careful, but unwilling to let Olivia's sudden interest in the blonde woman to become a forgotten regret. "Go get coffee there and then see what happens."

"Enough!" Olivia almost slammed Elliot's coffee down on his desk, narrowly avoiding splashing its scalding liquid everywhere, then marched around to her own and jabbed at the power button to her computer monitor.

"Uh oh, what'd you do now?" Fin asked as Elliot set the drink carrier down and started handing out coffees. The older detective glanced over at his partner, who looked genuinely rattled by the morning's encounter, and decided not to push the subject anymore.

"Nothing. Just teasing my partner." Elliot tried to shoot a crooked grin in Olivia's direction, but she staunchly refused to look up from her screen.

"Oh, baby girl, don't let this idiot get to you." Fin's gentle use of her nickname as they all settled in at their desks brought a small smile to Olivia's face, and she sighed.

"I won't," she returned, throwing a case file onto Elliot's desk. "But I will let him do the paperwork for yesterday's interrogation." The detective in question groaned, but opened the folder.

. . .

At the end of the day, as the 1-6 detectives packed away their open case files and turned off their computers, Elliot decided that he couldn't leave without encouraging Olivia one more time. As they walked out of the building together, he in the direction of the parking garage and her in the direction of the nearest subway, Elliot put a strong hand on her upper arm and pulled her aside.

"Liv," he began, but she interrupted him.

"Save it!" Stuffing her hands angrily into the pockets of her NYPD jacket, Olivia gave him her best glare. "I don't want to hear any more of your crazy ideas. It was completely ridiculous this morning: me, running after some stranger on the street! I should never—"

"You should never," Elliot interrupted her, "let an opportunity slip away from you if you have a chance to do something about it." Taking Olivia by the shoulders, he forced her to hold his gaze, wanting her to understand that he was no longer teasing. "Liv, you're my partner and my best friend. You've saved my life, you've saved my marriage and reminded me to be a better dad, and every time, you always tell me that it's not too late. I can fix my mistakes, I can take care of my family, I can make things right." Olivia stared at her partner, his voice steady and his face hard as he gave her a speech longer than any she had ever heard from him. "I care about you, Liv. And this woman? Who knows, maybe you'll introduce yourself and she'll tell you she's in town for the weekend from Bangladesh and you'll never see her again. But she caught your eye for a reason." Olivia wasn't sure how to react, so she went with humor and sarcasm.

"Bangladesh? Really?" Elliot narrowed his eyes at her, and she sighed. "You've always put too much faith in fate, El."

"And you've always put too much faith in your doubts." The brunette detective could not find it in herself to disagree. "Will you go to the coffee shop tomorrow morning?" Olivia shrugged and pulled away from Elliot.

"I don't know. Right now, I'm going home and going to sleep." Elliot watched away, hoping against all hope that she would take the leap of faith.

. . .

At 7am, Olivia slipped in the doors to the café, ordered her usual drink, and settled into a booth that provided her with a good view of the door. She had brought a book, convincing herself during the subway ride and the walk to the shop, that she was merely going to enjoy the white noise of a café as well as their excellent coffee. Ignoring the grinning Elliot face pushing at her subconscious, she opened her book up to where she had left off before their most recent case, and began to read.

The problem with this plan was quickly apparent. Every time the bells over the door jingled, Olivia's gaze snapped up to see who was coming in for coffee. After a half hour, her coffee was half empty and she had ready barely a page and a half of her novel. Finally setting it aside, the brunette pulled out her phone. Maybe a game of scrabble against he smart phone would work out better.

Another half hour went by, during which she beat the first three levels of CPU intelligence in scrabble, and lost to the fourth. She was battling back with a well-placed "singe" when the door signal rang again and Olivia looked up to find the woman from yesterday making her way into the café.

Today, the blonde had dressed for more fashion than comfort, in a sea green dress reaching just above her knees. Over her shoulders, she wore a light sweater in a creamy brown, which hid the edges of a low, square neckline and accentuated the lowlights in her curled hair. Olivia watched, captivated, as she approached the counter and ordered her drink, smiling brightly and sliding a $5 bill into the tip jar after the barista made her laugh. Once her coffee was made, the stranger brought it to the bar once again to added her skim milk and cane sugar.

Olivia had slid to the edge of the booth at her table, prepared to leave the café at the same time as this beautiful woman, but today, the blonde found a tall table by the window and gracefully sat down. Finding her plan suddenly altered, Olivia froze, unsure of what to do. Should she go over and sit down?

Elliot's voice echoed in her mind at that moment, and she thought back to her quiet, cold apartment which was the only thing waiting for her when she left the café. Standing swiftly, she smoother down the long sleeve, white, cable-knit shirt she had worn that morning, retrieved her book and her lukewarm coffee, and made her way over to the woman's table.

"Um, excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" Olivia didn't like that her voice was softer than it normally sounded, but at least she had gotten all the words out. The blonde looked up from her iPad and smiled a wide grin.

"Not at all." A pause while both women seemed to analyze one another. "Would you like to?" Olivia nodded and pulled the second chair slightly away from the table. Making sure her book and drink were safely ensconced on the table, she slid onto the chair, unsure again about what to say next.

"Oh, are you reading this now?" The stranger had picked up Olivia's book and found the dog-ear that indicated her place in the tale. "I've heard so much about it."

"Yes," Olivia answered as calmly as she could. "I'm a cop, and I wanted to read it to see… to see what it was like from a civilian perspective." Olivia could have kicked herself for admitting to her profession so quickly. Half expecting the other woman to suddenly want to leave the coffee shop, she fought for more conversation. "I also want to see the movie when it comes out, so I'm trying to finish it first."

"Oh, that's wonderful! My best friend is a police officer, actually. A detective." Olivia's eyebrows rose. "I should recommend this to her."

"It's sometimes difficult to read, though. Just so you know… It's hard to relive tragedies like this one, and the kid is so different." Olivia shrugged, taking a gulp of her coffee. "Anyway, did you say your friend was a detective? In New York?"

"Oh, no! I'm from Boston." The blonde looked around quickly, then leaned in closer to Olivia and dropped her voice to something resembling a stage whisper. "But don't tell anyone I'm a Red Sox fan! They might try to convert me!" Olivia let out a bark of laughter, then yanked her hand up to cover her mouth as she chuckled. Furious with herself for laughing at this beautiful woman, Olivia fought to control her laughter, but she realized that the blonde had a triumphant grin on her face, rather than a look of annoyance or anger. "I'm so glad you thought that was funny. I'm usually very bad with jokes."

"Really?" The brunette detective tilted her head to the side a little as she took the younger woman in front of her. "I can't believe that you're bad at anything." Then, before the compliment could sit awkwardly between them, Olivia continued. "And don't worry, I won't give away your secret. I'm a detective, as well. I work the special victims unit a little bit uptown from here."

"So, that was your partner you were with yesterday?" Olivia's eyes snapped up to meet sparkling hazel, and then she blushed mightily.

"Yes." The blonde's smile was gentle, if a bit inquisitive, and she didn't seem to think Olivia was a stalker, so the brunette took a chance and tried to explain. "Actually, he's the reason I came back. I, uh… I usually don't do things like this."

"Sit in a café to read a book?" Suddenly the perfectly manicured nails on the table between them were fascinating to Olivia, who shook her head, grinning wryly. Then, she sighed, pulling her courage together and straightening her spine, meeting the stranger's gaze with a confidence she didn't really have.

"No, I don't usually sit down with a beautiful woman in a coffee shop just to ask her what her name is." The blonde's grin spread to show a thin row of clean, white teeth.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't usually travel to a new city and let beautiful women sit at my table while I'm drinking my coffee." Olivia could feel her cheeks heat up again, but she refused to let it deter her. Sticking out her hand, Olivia introduced herself.

"Detective Olivia Benson." A slim hand returned her handshake firmly.

"Dr. Maura Isles."


End file.
